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Feb. 11, 2010

AT&T Mobility says it has selected Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson to design and build its LTE (long term evolution) network.

The decision emulates Verizon Wireless' choice almost over year ago. AT&T said it chose the two network infrastructure suppliers in part because they already sell and install equipment for its 3G network and the equipment can then be easily upgraded as AT&T sees fit.

“Our long term progress in working with Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent will enable us not only to incorporate high-performance LTE equipment in the AT&T mobile network, but also to take full advantage of compatibility standards between the suppliers' existing 3G equipment and forthcoming LTE upgrades,” AT&T said in a statement.

“As part of the supplier agreements, 3G equipment delivered to AT&T by the two companies starting in 2010 will be easily convertible to LTE, enabling AT&T to easily upgrade existing equipment and software rather than install new equipment from scratch, and in many cases as we deploy the next-generation technology going forward,” the statement read.

AT&T is planning LTE field trials in mid-July or early August, with commercial rollout set to begin early next year.

As part of the agreements, the wireless carrier said it named Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson as the “domain suppliers” for its radio access network. The carrier's Domain Supplier program “facilitates a more collaborative relationship with all its equipment and software suppliers, enabling AT&T to have best technologies in place to serve all its wireless customers,” according to AT&T.

This sudden decision is most likely a bad surprise for competing infrastructure vendors Nokia Siemens Networks, which has yet to ink a major LTE deal in the U.S., and Huawei Technologies, which also was bidding for the same contract.

In September 2009, Nokia Siemens Networks opened an LTE lab in Dallas to show its support for the LTE market in North America. For its part, Huawei has also built 3G networks for Cox Communications and Leap Wireless International, and also has won a deal to build Clearwire's WiMAX network in the U.S.

Not much else is known of AT&T's decision yesterday. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed either.

Winning the initial contract is by no means a guarantee of an easy road for the network vendors as wireless carriers everywhere have been known to pull out equipment and replace it if they aren't satisfied with the network.

In the past, mobile service carriers also have expanded their equipment suppliers as they go forward with the next network roll out.

Exactly a week ago, Alcatel-Lucent said that it will expand its R&D presence in Ireland as part of a government program to increase the country's high-tech industry. Alcatel-Lucent's expansion will create more than seventy technology jobs in the company's Bell Labs over the next 5 years. Bell Labs was first established in Ireland in 2005, when Alcatel merged with Lucent.

Bell Labs will begin to contribute to the recently launched Green Touch Initiative, which aims to make networks 1,000 times more energy efficient than they are today.

Since Bell Labs was first established in Ireland, the company has researched several different areas of network technology. Bell Labs was one of the pioneers of the femtocell, devices which have been deployed by global wireless operators to improve building coverage for subscribers.

"Bell Labs plays a significant part in the Irish research eco-system," said Ireland's Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan T.D. in a statement. "Its uniquely open approach to innovation and the sharing of ideas will advance technological development and accelerate growth amongst Irish companies, bolstering our long-term economic expansion."

LTE (Long Term Evolution) is a new high performance protocol for cellular mobile communication systems. It is the last step toward the 4th generation (4G) of wireless technologies designed to increase the capacity and overall speed of mobile phone networks.

The current generation of mobile telecommunication networks are collectively known as 3G (for "third generation"). On the other hand, LTE is marketed as 4th generation. But LTE still doesn't fully comply with the IMT Advanced 4G requirements, however.

Most major wireless carriers in the U.S. and others have announced plans to convert their networks to LTE beginning last year. The world's first publicly available LTE-service was opened by TeliaSonera in the two Scandinavian capitals Stockholm and Oslo on Dec. 14, 2009.

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Source: AT&T.